Wednesday, 3 February 2010

My 100th Post Jackfruit Biryani & Raita …and an event announcement

Hi Friends! I am surely at the top of the world as I type my 100th Post. Last few days have been mind boggling as I was slowly heading towards a century and was still undecided what I should post. I wanted the recipe to be special so I kept debating with myself as the recipe names kept floating in my brain…gateux..cheesecake…savory….dessert… I was thoroughly confused errrgh.

Amongst all this confusion I decided that it’s time I host my first event and my head started working on the theme for the event. After a lot of thought I decided on Combo. The minute my theme was decided I knew what I had to post ….My first entry to my first event Jackfruit Biryani and Raita.

Before I head towards the recipe and the rules for the event I want to thank each and every blogger friend who have been kindly sending me their responses and comments for my recipes, it means a lot to me. Each and every blogger has an expertise in some form of cooking and their tips and notes have helped me learn so much more. It has been a good learning journey where I tried my hands on various cuisines making myself more adept. Blogging has become a part of my life where I learn new recipes every day which has given me a platform to improvise and concoct my own versions. At the same time I have made pals around the globe whom I have never met and yet they have become a part of my life. I wait for their comments to come and when I read and answer their comment I get the feeling that I am talking to them IN PERSON.

As I had mentioned in my 50th post too I never thought I could post so many recipes but at my 100th post surprisingly I know I still have many more to share. I still have to try my hands on so many cuisines and have to win over the “yeast ghost”. I am still learning the art of writing good posts which are informative and at the same time entertaining. Writing is an art and I confess it has never been my cup of tea but I am surely trying… I admire so many bloggers who write so well, hence it will be unfair on my part to name just one..but I am learning from all you guys. Thank you so much.

Coming back to my today’s post….. A few days back I got hold of freshly cut raw jackfruit. I had been planning to make a biryani with it for quite sometime but always ended up making something else. This time I thought of surprising S with a biryani for lunch. I must confess I was a bad planner this time, I had just 1-1/2 hrs for S to come for lunch and was wondering how fast can this be cooked….? I was literally running in my kitchen trying to complete two steps of the preparation simultaneously at the same time. Frying with one hand and grinding with the other, the last thing that I wanted was to get disturbed….my elder son watching me work frantically asked me what are you cooking? To which I managed to answer wait till Pappa comes… Surprise …Surprise!!! But I surely surprised myself as I managed to finish the elaborate procedure in the allotted time and gladly served it for lunch….. I can boast about myself….right!!!LOL

Ingredients For Biryani

Recipe Courtesy- Sanjeev Kapoor which I have modified to suit our taste.

500 gm Raw Jackfruit cut into pieces

1-1/2 cups Basmati rice soaked

4 medium onions thinly sliced

3 medium tomatoes chopped

2tbsp ginger-garlic paste

1-1/2 cups yogurt whisked

1 bunch coriander leaves chopped

1 bunch fresh mint torn

2 tbsp milk

5-6 strands of saffron dissolved in 7-8 tsp milk

1 tbsp Kewra water

oil for deep frying

3-4 tbsp ghee/clarified butter

salt to taste

Spices

4 green cardamom

4 black cardamom

4 cloves

2-1” pieces of cinnamon

1/2 tsp shahjeera

2 tsp cumin pwd

3 tsp coriander pwd

1 tsp turmeric pwd

3 tsp red chili pwd

1 tsp garam masala

Method

Deep fry the jack fruit and onion slices and keep them separately.

Meanwhile soak the rice for 15-20 mins and then drain. Boil the rice 6 cups of water along with 2 cloves, cardamom, black cardamom, 1 cinnamon and some salt, cook till it’s almost done, remove in a colander.

Heat 3 tbsp ghee and add the shahjeera followed by the remaining whole spices. Add the ginger-garlic paste and saute, now add all the spices except the garam masala and mix. Tip in the tomatoes and salt to taste (enough for the jackfruit curry), once the tomatoes are mushy add the chopped coriander then remove the pan from the flame and add the curds and garam masala, mix. Removing from flame is important as the curd curdles otherwise. Put the pan back on the flame and cook the masala, add the fried jackfruit and cook till it attains a semi gravy texture.

Now comes the final part …layering the Biryani. Take a rice dish and grease it. On the base spread half of the Jackfruit curry then spread half the rice put half of the chopped mint leaves (I used mint powder as I was short of them but fresh mint is recommended). Sprinkle half of the kewra water and saffron milk. Repeat the layers again. Take a satay stick and pass it through the layers at 5-6 places. Pour a few drops of ghee there. This is an optional step but surely yields a better flavor and moistness to the Biryani. Cover the dish with an aluminium foil and bake in a preheated oven at 180C for 20-25 mins.

Serve hot with mix veg raita. For veg raita mix small quantity of tomato, onion, cucumber in a cup of thick yogurt. Add a finely chopped green chili and a little chopped cilantro. Also add some salt, rock salt and a pinch of sugar. Mix properly and then add some water to adjust the consistency. Chill the raita before serving.

This Biryani is the best option for meat lovers who have turned vegetarian and obviously the hard core vegetarians to enjoy veggie-meat biryani. The raita is the most appropriate accompaniment to the spicy biryani.

Note- Do not skip the Kewra water as it adds an amazing flavour but at the same time an excess quantity can spoil the taste.

Now that I have crossed one big milestone in blogging I thought of celebrating the same by taking up a new challenge and aiming for a new milestone. I have been participating in various events but never hosted a one. So here I am hosting my first event to celebrate my first BIG MILESTONE. I invite all my blogger friends and non blogger friends to participate in this and make it success.

THE COMBO EVENT

We always read in a post that this tastes best when served with this. For eg in a chana masala post one might say it tastes best when served with bhatoora/ puri/ jeera rice. So the Chana-Bhatoora/ Chana-poori or Chana –rice makes a combo. Sarson da saag is served with makke di roti, Bhakri with stuffed baingan and Noodles with Manchurian . A combo can be as simple as sambhar-rice, rasam rice or even Roti and some curry. One can share their Paratha Combo’s.

In starters …a starter is served with a dip, similarly in desserts ..a brownie is served with a vanilla ice-cream, fruit custard with jelly and so on…..

So use your creativity, pick any cuisine of your choice and send me your combos which you feel and guarantee gel with each other.

Rules for the event

Post any vegetarian combo meal between 3rd Feb-10th March. Eggs can be used but non veg entries will not be accepted as this is a vegetarian blog.

One can send maximum of three entries.

Old posts can be reposted and linked with the event announcement page.

110 comments:

Congratulations on the 100th post !! Your blog is really fantastic with great recipes to share !! I am not lucky enough to be a part of your competition as i am good at traveling and photography but not at cooking..But yes i love different type of food !! Thanks will be back..

Hi....PariHeartiest Congratulations on your 100th post !!!!!! Amazing milestone.....What a lovely theme for your first event.......comboThis combo of jackfruit biryani and raita are awesome.....The clicks are fanastic.....Jackfruit biryani is truly unique...and to think you made all this so fast...wow

Dear Sonia I was about to hop in ur blog to read ur post when I got ur comment. Perfect combo and a great entry to start with. Pls do send. And yes, S enjoyed eating the Biryani. Infact it tasted better the next day when only a little was left.But that's so true all flavours are thoroughly absorbed by next day.

Congraz on ur 100th post pari,wish u to many many more delicious dishes in your blog,keep going...kathal biryani is very new and innovative..never heard of it before,surely must be good in taste...and thats a lovely event,will surely send in my entries..

Thanks so much for understanding Pari, didn't want to go against the event rules. Sorry about that but I can't help it, paying to blog is a bit hard, isn't it?:D I will post it for you soon, nothing elaborate but traditional combo! :))

Congrats on ur 100th post Pari and prepare briyani with raw jack-fruit is very new to me...very delicious briyani and just loved the clicks and the way u described the steps in preparing them..awesome!!

Thank you friends for your encouraging comments. I need all your support for hosting.Ashaji, I understand your problem, no probs, now that you have mentioned I will except your entry without the logo.Genuine problems can be considered.

Hi, Pari ..congratulations on ur milestone.. I had posted a combo today in my blog when asha told me that an event is on here.. But..I didn click a pic of the combo together.. anyways there is lots of time.. I will send one soon..

Congratulations dear!! You have come a long way and i wish you many such milestones ahead! Keep rocking as always! Biryani with jackfruit is really very innovative, fantastic!Very nice theme for the event, all the very best!

Congratulations dear friend!!!!..:):):)... Wow!!.. It sure is a very special recipe on your 100th post and totally new to me.. very very well presented, step by step and Sooo nice you did all this in a short time!!!.. you are a wonderful blogger!!!.. Congratulations again and a nice event:).. will send some recipes:):).. keep rocking!!!

Hi,Congrats on ur 100th post. Lovely Biryani, can smell the aroma too :)I am new to the food blogging world and my blog is less than 20 days old.I was wondering if I can join the event, but also I am not sure how to link it to my post. I recently posted Poori Choley and wondering if I can send that in?...you can email me at smitha dot joga at gmail and my blog url is http://spicy-flavors.blogspot.com/

I just have the recipe with me. I just posted it on my blog and Asha suggested that I send it accross. Will do that soon..Congratulations on your 100th post. I have never tried jackfruit biryani and jackfruit is one of our fav. When i go to India this time I will definitely try it out :) Thanks for sharing this

wow, Pari, congratulations on reaching 100th post! I started blogging just a few months back and have been following your blog also for just those many months, but already I am so impressed! Hats off to you girl! Mahiti hota mala ki ya navachya muli are the best :D Jackfruit biryani looks scrumptiously delicious and love the tip of kewra water!

Nice idea about the event too, I am thinking what I should make now :)

Hey Parita, you were one of the few people who started following my blog.I am so touched by ur comment. It means a lot coming from you. I used to admire ur blog and wonder how many people comment and read ur blog. When will my blog attain some name and fame like u. God has been kind, is what I can say! Today I interact with so many bloggers and I am always humbled by their comments. Thank u so much my friends, you bring a smile on my face every day.PJ, it's been a few months that I have known u but I feel I have always known u. I look forward to read ur comments dear and will love to take this friendship to a more personal level if u agree. I am so impressed with ur writing calibre, there'a lot that I can learn from u.Dear Divya, welcome dearie, Hope u had good exams. looking forward to ur entry.Thank u friends, awaiting ur entries.

Hey Pari, Congrats for your Century!!! Just raise you spatula up towards sky .... just like Tendulkar does when he completes his century:) I am goanna ready to participate in the event.... All the best!!!

Dear Preeti, I actually did that after your comment and laughed at myself..but I enjoyed doing that. Thanks so much.Smitha, I am so glad you did it, I can understand how u are feeling, I have also crossed that stage once..Deepti heartiest congrats on ur 100th, will surely drop in sometime to check..Dear K, Thanks, I am glad u liked the post. Awaiting ur entries.

Oh am late in wishing you Pari. My Laptop is not working and get to use hubby's only for an hour. but this jackfruit biriyani looks incredible. love the colour and the texture. Congrats on your 100th post. you really made it big and special with the dish and the event announcement.

Hi Pari,I am too late but nevertheless wish you great success and many more tasty dishes and best of delectable delights life can offer. I love Jackfruit and what better if its with rice. Lot of hard work you've put in lady!!

WOW!!! Kudos to you Pari, on your achievement..... It means a lot & I totally understand your happiness & excitement..... And the outcome is totally enthralling..... May God bless u with many more happiness.... in your present & future....

I am so thrilled about this event too..... I would surely send my preps your way..... I would be glad to do so.... I loved the very theme..

That is totally awesome & a sumptuous delicacy..... I love jack fruit too..... Every step by step, illustrated instructions are worth all the praises & appreciation.... KUDOS to you on all your achievements...... I would love to participate in an outstanding event like this..... GOD BLESS!!!!

congrats on your 100th post, I will definitely try to participate, thanks for sending me the invitation, sometimes, I do not what event is going where?, so many times I miss them.., lovely biryani.., fantastic step -by step photos.., mouthwatering..., you have a very lovely blog here, do visit my blog when you have time..

Thank you friends for all those words of appreciation. Asha I am glad u liked the post and the detailed description. I am surely awaiting your entry.Jayasree I will surely drop sometime and check out ur blog. Thanks for accepting the invitation.

Hi Pari,Just found a link to your blog and was going through your latest post. The combo event sounds interesting. I will try to participate. If I can, this will be the first event I will participate in. I am still very new to the world of blogging and started blogging only recently. Will definitely try to participate. Congrats on your 100th post. Will read rest of your blog soon.

Dear Amruta, welcome to my blog and the blogging world.I am glad you liked the event. I will be even more glad if u could participate. Will drop by sometime and check ur blog. Keep visiting :)Thanks Aruna, Raks.

Pari, you have been a friend and a true delight with all your writings and recipes. You share so generously of your time and experience and it is appreciated, especially by someone like me who is not familiar with your style of cooking. I learn so much from you and I look forward to learning more. Thank you for all you do. You make a difference.

WOW !!U have such a lovely blog space here :-).....- Such original receipies (yumm...)- Such a fresh style of writing & presentation. It is really so pleasent on the mind. Brings a smile to the face while reading.- Amazing clicks not only of the end product which really makes me feel like grabbing the food right out of ur blog, but also of the detailed step by step presentation.I cud just go on & on....I am truly bowled over. Am following u defenitely. Congratulations on ur 100th post and am sure u will cross many more such milestones in future too. keep up the good work.

Dear Katy, you move me with ur comments, it's always my pleasure to have a friend like you. I truely admire ur style of writing and learn so much from you.Oraphan thanks so much for your wishes..and hey you are an amazing cook.Thanks Supriya and chow..Hey dear Anonymous I am completely flattered by ur comment. That's indeed sweet of you to say so many good things about my blog. Would appreciate if you reveal ur identity...

Pari Congratulations on ur 100th post!! ur blog has a treasure of fantastic recipes.I had sent in my entry to ur combo event, but did not get any reply from u as yet. do let me know if u got the email. meblog linkis:http://recipegrabbag.blogspot.com/cheers, rupali.